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PART I HEAD-END CARSEL passenger trains were a colorful and varied lot, reflecting the influence of predecessor roads Erie and Delaware, Lackawanna & WesternBY JOE LOFLAND AND MARTY OBED |
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Erie Lackawanna passenger trains offered a wonderful
variety of motive power and consists for modelers and
fans alike. From dual-service Fs. RS's, and Geeps
to glamorous PAs and Es, the power ends of EL trains
were never dull nor were the consists they pulled: Car
schemes ranged from traditional Pullman green and Erie
two-tone green to the striking maroon-and-gray brought
to the merger by Delaware, Lackawanna & Western.
Though railfans lamented the dwindling patronage of EL's passenger business. The situation created some interesting one- and two-car trains that make perfect building projects for the modeler short on time, space or both. (And if you're not short on these two things. there are plenty of longer trains to be modeled, too!.) |
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Brief overview 60ft Baggage & Mail Cars 70ft Baggage Express Cars Lightweight Headend Cars Heaveyweight Mail, Mail-dormitory & Baggage Mail Cars Milk, Express Reefers & Box Express Cars |
When Erie Railroad joined with Delaware. Lackawanna & Western Railroad in October 1960. The two companies had already been working together to cut operating cost 5 through the combining of trackage in southern New York state and the shac mg of passenger facilities at DL&W's terminal in Hoboken. N.J. (Erie had been using facilities in Jersey City). The pre-merger Erie was, of course, not the speediest route from New York (Hoboken and Jersey City. actually) to Chicago, calling as it did on a number of smaller communities and carrying a heavy load of head-end business. On the other hand, Lackawaqnna had, earlier in the century, touted itself as "Mile for mile the most highly developed railroad in America." Indeed it was. but fewer and fewer people wanted to spend a whole work day getting from New York to Buffalo, DL&W's western terminus. Whatever' the particular problems of the new Erie-Lackawanna (later minus the hyphen), the major difficulties were the same as with the passenger service of other railroads travel time and convenience. The farther the destination the worse the problem. In the "foward-looking" 1950s and early l960s, Americans found the railroad timetable more and more inflexible compared to leaving home when you wanted and free-wheeling it down the Interstate highway. By 1970. Erie Lackawanna had purged all of its long-distance trains and had directed its passenger-hauling concerns to its large network of commuter lines. For readers wanting more background information on pre- and post-merger passenger operations, we recommend the excellent capsule history in Karl Zimmermann's ERIE LACKAWANNA EAST (Quadrant Press, 1975), still available at dealers specializing in rail books. In a later installment of this article, we'll list various EL trains and some typical and actual consists. In this installment we'll begin our look at various car types operated in Erie Lackawanna through-line passenger service and show how each type can be modeled. |
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When Erie and DL&W came together in 1960, the two railroads together rostered some 1200 passenger cars. The great majority were pre-1930s heavyweights, and most of these were head-end cars. With only 22 cars removed from revenue service between 1961 and 1962, not much had changed on the roster during the first full year of operation. Between 1962 and 1963, however, 81 cars were scratched off the list. By the time the last passenger diagram books were issued in August and September 1966, over 300 cars - one quarter of the first post-merger roster had been sold, scrapped or reassigned to non-revenue service. Early in 1970, shortly after the discontinuance of trains 5 and 6, the Chicago-Hoboken "Lake Cities" - the last vestiges of long-distance service Erie Lackawanna's passenger fleet had been reduced to slightly over 500 cars. Most of these were heavyweight commuter coaches operating in EL's suburban district in northern New Jersey and southeastern New York. As far as through-line equipment. the ex-DL&'W heavyweights were first to be retired. The three Lackawanna business cars, Nos. 97, 98 and 99 all open rear-platform types were sold by early 1963. Likewise, all DL&W heavyweight diners and buffet cars had been purged by 1964. Here again, the ex-Erie diner-lounges and parlor-diners had won out over the Lackawanna diners and buffets. Though DL&W loyalists might charge that with ex-Erie managers in control the railroad was biased toward that road's equipment, it is more likely in this case that the Erie diner-lounges proved the more versatile type. With their 24-dining/10-lounge seating, the Erie cars (now renumbered to EL 700-series) provided greater flexibility for a railroad with few truly long-distance passenger trains. In addition, the ex-Erie diner lounges all had high profile, streamline roofs and large windows giving them a more modern appearance, while the Lackawanna's varied in configuration from car to car. DL&W heavyweight coaches were also prime candidates for disposal. All former Lackawanna coaches (DL&W 200-series) except one were dropped from the roster before the issuance of the 1966 planbook. Only EL 1149 (ex-DL&W 249) survived, and this car, with its small, modernized windows and smooth, rebuilt roofline, lasted less than a year beyond the last diagram book and was white-lined" (struck from the roster) in April 1967. Where the ex-Erie heavyweights had faired better than the Lackawanna's, the DL&W lightweight types were favored over their relatively few Erie counterparts. The 38 Lackawanna cars. most built for DL&W's Phoebe Snow flagship in 1949, included 25 coaches (counting DL&W No.322, which was badly damaged and never renumbered), nine 10-6 sleepers, two full diners and two blunt-end tavern-lounge-observations. All survived at least as late as October 1969, and most were still on the roster at the close of long-distance service in January 1970. On the other hand, though most of the 30 Erie lightweight head-end cars remained in revenue service through late 1969 (and some still exist today in Conrail work assignments), nearly half of the ex-Erie streamline sleepers were sold by the end of 1966. Of the roughly 1200 passenger cars (in existence during the first days of the merger, only a small percentage survives today. Still. the remaining cars represent a good cross-section of all of those types employed by Erie Lackawanna. There are a number of arch roof 60-foot and streamline 70-foot baggage-express cars in work service or in private ownership. The ex-DL&W lightweight diners and tavern lounges still exist, and a few of the "Phoebe Snow" lightweight coaches may still be found. Although not through-line equipment, the ex-Lackawanna open-platform "Boonton" coaches and commuter electric m . u. (multiple-unit) power cars and trailers are popular with excursion railways throughout the U.S. There are business cars, a few ex-Erie modernized heavyweights, some lightweight sleepers and a number of the Stillwell coaches in a variety of types of service or on static display. Given that the oldest of the remaining cars were built in the second decade of this century, their continued existence is testimony to the integrity of the original builders and the generations of the able shops personnel that maintained them through their many years of service. |
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60-foot baggage express and mail storage cars With the exception of two ex-Erie short Stillwell cars (EL Nos. 506 and 510), alt of the 60-foot (interior length) steel baggage-express and mail storage cars came from DL&W. Of these former Lackawanna all-steel cars, the oldest series (DL&W baggage-express Nos. 2000-2009) was built by American Car & Foundry at Berwick, Pa., in 1911. Originally these cars featured four windows on eacb side two between the express doors and one between each door and the end of the car. As part of a postwar modernization program, No.2008 and possibly others in the series had their monitor-style (Or clerestory) roofs replaced with new, "turtle" (arch-style) roofs, and most of the cars had their window openings covered with sheet metal. By 1954 all of the series except DL&W No.2007 (a stove-equipped car) were painted maroon and gray. In 1961, just months after merger with Erie, only six of these baggage-express cars were listed as still in revenue service. and only two (Nos. 2000 and 2008) remained in 1965. EL company records indicate that none in this series was ever lettered for Erie Lackawanna. DL&W baggage-express series Nos. 2010-2019 was outshopped by Pullman's Buffalo (N.Y) plant in 1916. These also had monitor roofs and four windows on each side. When EL issued its passenger car diagrams books in 1966, only DL&W 2018 (scribbled in as a correction on the roster) remained. Like the earlier ACF series, none of the 1916-vintage cars was lettered Erie Lackawanna. Two other series of baggage-express cars, Nos. 2020-2029 (Pullman, 1917) and Nos. 2030-2034 (Pullman, 1921) were originally built with monitor roofs. The later group had two windows between the two express doors on each side of the car. One car, DL&W 2033, with its modernized roof and covered window openings, saw post-merger revenue service as EL No.248. DL&W mail storage cars 2035-2064 were originally built with arch roofs (Pullman- Standard, 1925) as were baggage-express cars 2065-2099 (ACF, 1926) and Nos. 2100-2109(ACF, 1927). Thirty-eight cars from all three of these series were shopped in 1965 and emerged as EL mail storage cars 450-487. The refurbished cars had no heat or lights, and any messenger facilities had been removed. Fourteen cars from original mail storage series DL&W 2035-2064 were converted to express cars in EL series 400-429. Here, company rosters and plans do not agree with interline passenger registers, which show series 400-429 as mail storage cars. In addition to the aforementioned EL 248.14 cars from the three DL&W series became baggage-express and express messenger cars in the 200- and 300-series. Modeling notes If you want to model the 60-foot baggage-express/mail storage cars. your best bet is to scratch build. Simply construct a rectangular box using your favorite building materials (styrene, Strathmore, etc.), cut the proper door openings, and fabricate doors from sheet styrene and Evergreen-brand styrene strips. Use either Walthers car ends and diaphragms, or fabricate your own. If you want rivets, punch them on a thin sheet of styrene and laminate it to the side of the box. Evergreen strips can be used for the beltrail. The door openings are different sizes. The large one is 7 feet wide and the small one 4 1/2 feet. The cars shown here are Walthers baggage cars with arch roofs and vents, and Central Valley trucks. The doors are made from styrene with the raised portions cut from strips of Evergreen stock. However, as you see, door openings are not of prototypical width. Walthers has discontinued its line of heavyweight passenger cars, but sometimes they cars still be found at well-stocked hobby shops and particularly at model railroad flea markets. Joe Lofland The author modeled 70-foot baggage-express car 585 in its Erie scheme. The principal alteration is the reshaping of baggage-door windows (see fig. 1, next page). Note also in this scene the adjacent milk car discussed later in this installment. |
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70-foot baggage-express cars As THE 60-foot arch-roof car was the principal all-steel head-end car on DL&W, the 70-foot clerestory-roof car was the standard for Erie. The exception was twelve AC&F examples which comprise two separate orders: series 535-539 (1930) and series 528-534 (1942). These cars all had arch roofs. In addition. one Standard Steel car. No.597 (series 575-597, 1928) had apparently had its original monitor roof rebuilt to an arch roof configuration at a later date. Certainly. the clerestory-roof 70-footers were more closely associated with Erie, and the beak-shaped ward roof vents became another identifying feature. Each side of this car type originally had seven-foot-wide doors, each with five windows, and six-foot doors with four windows. As the doors deteriorated through damage and corrosion, they were replaced with simplified steel doors with only one or two windows. A number of cars were refitted with wooden doors which, although free from rust, did not escape abuse in the form of gouging splintering and damage from moisture. When long-distance passenger service ended, the clerestory-roof head-end cars were among the first to be scrapped. As with other railroads. EL used old express cars for maintenance-of-way service. but the clerestory cars were passed over in favor of their smooth-roofed counterparts possibly because many of the ex-Lackawanna arch-roof cars had been rebuilt as late as 1965, making them more attractive as far as car maintenance was concerned. In addition, ex-Erie lightweights were equipped with a handy eight-foot 'door-and-a-half' on each side of the car, which made tool and equipment loading much less of a problem. One other series of 70-foot-class baggage-express cars, also of Erie heritage, was originally built as coach-baggage-mail combines by AC&F in 1934. The six cars, formerly numbered 640-645, were converted to straight baggage and express in October 1941 and renumbered 500-505. These cars, like 60-foot baggage-express Nos. 506 and 510, were built with Stillwell-style roofs (kind of a combined arch-and-clerestory style!). Unlike the shorter cars, however, the 70-footers had a curious arrangement whereby one end protruded farther beyond the truck than did the other end. Such a configuration becomes clear when one realizes these cars once had vestibules on one end, necessitating steps and a proper amount of clearance between steps and truck. Many of the 70-foot baggage and express cars were repainted maroon-and-gray and re-lettered ERIE LACKAWANNA. Interline passenger equipment registers indicate that all of the Stillwell cars in series 500-505 were repainted by 1966 or 1967. By late 1969 all but two of the 70-foot cars had been white-lined, with only monitor-roof cars 541 and 595 remaining. Both were in EL paint and subsequently taken out of revenue service in April 1970. Modeling notes Modeling the 70-foot express cars is a simple project: All you need is an Athearn baggage car. The minor change you'll have to make is to the windows in the doors; see fig. 1. If you want to use an arch roof on these cars, you can also make that change by using a Walthers wood roof. |
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Lightweight head end cars All EL streamlined head-end equipment was ex-Erie cars. There were 22 baggage-express cars (Erie and EL series 200-221, ACF 1950), five mail-dormitory cars (Erie 622-626, EL 652-656, ACF 1950) and three baggage-mail cars (Erie and EL 627-629, ACF 1950). Eventually, all of the baggage-express cars were repainted in EL livery, but some confusion exists regarding the mail-dormitory cars. By 1966, only one of the mail-dorms had been renumbered Erie 623 had become EL 653. Apparently, mail-dorm 653 had been rebuilt to baggage-mail configuration and renumbered EL 623. In addition, the 1968 register shows 626 as "EL" but still with a mail-dormitory arrangement. According to some company documents, this car was also converted to baggage-mail type, and subsequently both 623 and 626 were transferred to rider-car service (as Nos. R-29 and R-30 respectively) in the early months of 1968. Available photos show that both R-29 and R-30 were in fact baggage-mail types and in the Erie Lackawanna color scheme. All three of the original baggage-mail cars (Nos. 627-629) were retired by 1968, and none was painted maroon and gray. Many of the baggage-express cars survived as work equipment and were renumbered to 480000 series. Some were repainted from maroon-and-gray back to their original green livery. Modeling notes The basis of all three different car types is tile Rivarossi/International Hobby Corporation streamline baggage car. Again, some of you may wish to scratch build the cars; all you have to do is make a rectangular box out of styrene or whatever, cut the door and window openings and add a commercially available streamlined roof. Doors on EL baggage-express cars are closer to the car ends than the doors on the Rivarossi models, so most of the work involves filling existing door openings, and cutting new ones. Cut sheet styrene to fit in the existing opening, then fill the gaps with a plastic filler such as Green Putty. Next, sand the side entirely flat. Once this is accomplished, you can mark and cut the appropriate openings (refer to the plans). Make the door from sheet styrene (.010" thick). and mount window material (clear styrene) behind the openings. If you choose to do one of the other two car types, you'll need to fill the openings in the same manner, and then mark the new openings for door and/or windows. The windows with the rounded upper corners are easy to duplicate: When you cut the window openings, cut them square and open them from the bottom up. After you are satisfied with the almost-finished window, round the upper corners of each window with a small round file. Vents are Walthers Garland vents. |
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Heavyweight mail, mail-dormitory and baggage-mail cars Regarding the "RPO combine types" company records sometimes conflict with interline registers. For example, the EL roster shows ex-Erie cars 600-603 as "mail and express," while equipment registers use the terminology "baggage and mail." Most likely the company listing is more precise. The 600-603 series was fairly standard-looking 70-foot combines with monitor roofs, Ward-style vents and straight-equalized, six-wheel trucks. Apparently, none was ever repainted in maroon-and-gray. Erie also bought three arch-roof combines to the merger, including mail-dormitory car (Erie No.606, ACF 1930, last listed in 1965) and baggage-mail cars 605 and 607 (ACF 1930, both retired in March 1968). None of these three was repainted into EL colors and markings, and a photograph of Erie 605 shows one of the original RPOwindows on each side as having been covered over during some earlier modernization process. From Lackawanna came several 60-and 70-foot RPOs and baggage-mail combines. Originally all were numbered in the 1800-series, but at least seven cars received new 600-series numbers with Erie Lackawanna lettering. The accompanying chart lists this renumbering. The IHC/Rivarossi heavyweight RPO works great, almost out of the box, for the Erie cars. It also works for the Lackawanna car, but more work will have to be done. Of course, you may want to add Kadee couplers, substitute your own preference of trucks or wheel sets and add some weight, but no major changes are needed. Remember though-the cars manufactured by ACF had arched roofs. Most notable among the DL&W mail combines are two ex-monitor roof cars Nos. 1812 and 1813 (Pullman, 1927), rebuilt to a streamline configuration in 1949 for the Phoebe Snow. The pair had a low roof and skirting applied to make them match the lightweight rolling stock of postwar Lackawanna flagships; they became EL Nos. 677-678. Two other cars receiving significant remodeling prior to the merger were former open-vestibule mail cars (originally combines) 1800 and 1801. These RPOs were rebuilt with arch roofs and had their vestibules converted to interior floor space. Both cars were re-lettered ERIE LACKAWANNA and renumbered 690 and 691. |
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Milk cars, express reefers and box express cars Of these types, only a portion of the ex-DL&W 10000-series box express cars and the ex-DL&W 2100-series ex-troop sleeper express cars ever made it to maroon-and-gray with Erie Lackawanna lettering. In addition. some of the ex-Erie sliding-door milk cars (used also for express) were lettered for EL, but they kept their dark green color scheme. The former troop sleepers were classified as 'express" instead of "box express" because their end doors allowed movement through them to other cars so equipped. Two of these, along with an ex-New York Central example, are used as museum display cars at the former NYC depot in North East, Pa. A number of the box express cars were returned to freight service in EL 50000 series. For' a time, they provided a colorful alternative to the usual boxcar red boxcars used in freight service. The milk reefer cars originally carried milk on the Erie Railroad, but later were used simply as express boxes. If you want to model the reefer version, you have three choices: First, Nickle Plate Products produced a brass reefer that is excellent. Second, Funaro & Camerlengo is producing an Erie milk car, and, third, you could come close with a Walthers steel 40-foot reefer. Substitute the ends of the Walthers car with Cannonball Car Shop ends No.31550; use Athearn express trucks, but knock the ends off for the right appearance. The car series 6600-6649 had sliding doors. You saw many of these cars at the head-end of through trains in the 1960s. To model these, simply cut a 6-foot opening in the side of the Walthers car, remove the rivets left above the opening, then frame out the opening with styrene. For decals, use Champ PH-10 for the Erie, Champ S-3 for the gold strips, and an Accu-Cal Erie diamond from engine sheet 5821H. The diamond on this set is more yellow than gold, so plan to weather your car enough so that you aren't aware of the difference. Over the years, the railroad repainted the cars, but the diamond was not replaced. The box express cars were former DL&W 40-foot boxcars assigned to passenger service. These cars had improved Dreadnaught ends and diagonal roof patterns (and the usual passenger-service appliances: tight lock couplers, high-speed trucks and steam lines). You will have to choose which model you are going to represent since none of the current 40-foot boxcars is exactly correct. If you want to do it absolutely accurately, use the ends and roof from a McKean car, and the sides from an Athearn (see conversion article. MODEL RAILROADING magazine, March/April 1985). The 54-foot box express cars were numbered 89-99. These were cars built for the U.S. Army by Pullman in 1945-46 and sold to DL&W. The cars had 6-foot Youngstown doors and also end doors. Rollerbearing's Troop Box Car No.502 would probably be a close replica of these cars. |
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Future installments will cover coaches,
diners/diner-lounges, sleepers, observation cars and
business cars. Stay tuned!
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